Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Happy Valentine's Day!


Happy Valentine's Day everyone! It is snowy here; we're having a bit of a storm come through. I decided not to travel into the city today; so I'm working here at home. Lots to do! I decided to take a break and write... I won't spoil the Valentines Day surprises, but I CAN say that my husband is making me my special chili (mentioned a few posts ago). I will be sure to take pictures of it this time. It's in the crock pot now and smells good. *sigh* I'm very excited. I never knew food could make me so elated. I'd never much cared one way or the other about food. It's also tax time! Our accountant is coming over tomorrow night to help weed through the jungle of papers and forms. I've tried to stay as organized as possible with everything so hopefully it will go smoothly. My first year of freelancing went well (for what I had hoped anyway). And thankfully my sometimes anal-retentive ways have helped me via a detailed excel spreadsheet where all my numbers and figures are recorded. I hope the tax faerie is nice to me and doesn't need to audit us. I've tried so hard to make sure everything is perfect. But it still makes me worry. Maybe I can slip her a few bucks under my pillow tonight to make sure we have an understanding.

Anyhoo, I'm happy to be safely indoors today. Drivers around here are nuts on the highways. I know; I'm one of them. But at least I'm a polite driver. And I'm always careful. You can be crazy AND careful. It's an art. I'm also glad to not be on the T. (The subway system in Boston). There's always "that person" nearby picking his/her nose. ALWAYS. And I find myself wondering why they seem to think nobody would see them. "You're in an open public space!!" I've wanted to yell. But I suffer and gag in silence. There's also "that guy" on the train who tries to use slick lines like "hey, I've seen you on this train a few times and wanted to say hi, so hi!". Or "hey cutie". Or some other phrase that's delivered in an overly friendly, slightly patronizing way. I'm not a mean person, so I smile and say hello politely. And then I stare at my shoe.

Meanwhile my inner dialogue says: "look dude, I'm trying to friggin' get to work. I'd drive my car; but this place is a traffic disaster from hell. So I'm stuck on the train watching the nose picker while I gag. I'm happily married...see my ring? And I don't see you on the train because I'm thinking about my day ahead. I'm not scoping the scene trying to pick up strangers. Please don't follow me when I get off the train. And please don't get mad that I'm not giving in to your advances...I don't want to be found dead in a trash can somewhere. But I'm sure you're a nice person."

2 comments:

Michelle said...

HA! I am so sympathizing with you!! Except in NYC, no one talks to you on the train, but they will lean against you with no explanation! I am starting my first year of freelance graphic designing now, so I hope it goes as well as yours :) Hope you enjoyed your chili, it sure is chili here..jejejej...

Unknown said...

HAHA! :)
Good luck with your new freelancing life! It is fun and challenging in good ways. And it's as if the public transit system is the only place it's accepted to violate personal space. It's one thing to stand near someone. It's another to lean on them, especially if there are plenty of seats on the train. :)